1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic calculator for determining truck driver log book values and more particularly pertains to allowing a truck driver to conveniently transcribe information required for an official driver's log monthly summary sheet upon entering the amount of hours worked in a current day.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of log books is known in the prior art. More specifically, log books heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of tracking a driver's hours are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Official truck driver daily log books were developed by the Department of Transportation for combating the increased possibility of accidents associated with driver fatigue. To accomplish such, the Department of Transportation sets a limit of the amount of hours a driver may drive in a given number of days(i.e. 70 hours/8 days or 60 hours/7 days) and requires that the log book which contains the number of hours a driver has worked in a given time period be kept up to date. This rule especially applies to the monthly summary sheet of the log book which is subject to periodic checking by officials. Basically, the summary sheet requires a driver to enter in a first column thereof the number of hours driven in the current day and further calculate and enter in a second column thereof the sum of hours driven in the last 6 or 7 days. The driver must also enter in a third column the number of hours he or she may drive during the next day by subtracting the foregoing sum of hours driven from the associated limit. Finally, the driver must also calculate and enter in a fourth column thereof the sum of hours driven in the last 7 or 8 days. Since drivers are usually fatigued at the cessation of a shift, such calculations are tedious and subject to mistakes which may cost the driver his or her job.
The only pertinent reference which attempts to aid a driver in making such calculations and filling out the monthly summary chart is U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,827 to Rayburn. Such reference discloses a manual guide device for making entries in a trucker's log book. While such device indicates to the user the necessary calculations, it still requires the driver to perform them.
In this respect, the electronic calculator for determining truck driver log book values according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing a truck driver to conveniently transcribe information required for an official driver's log monthly summary sheet upon entering the amount of hours worked in a current day.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved electronic calculator for determining truck driver log book values which can be used for allowing a truck driver to conveniently transcribe information required for an official driver's log monthly summary sheet upon entering the amount of hours worked in a current day. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.